60 POULTRY DISEASES 



and buried in the decayed surface of wooden buildings can 

 in a great measure be covered up and ^rendered iiarmless by 

 the use of whitewash, which should always be a part of the 

 cleaning -uj) and disinfecting of a poultry house. 



Liquid disinfectants are best applied with the spray pump, 

 and all the force possible should be used in throwing the 

 spray on the walls. In this way it will reach all parts of an 

 uneven surface better than when applied with a brush, and 

 much time will be saved in its application. 



Disinfectants will act more vigorously when applied hot, 

 and solutions should always be at least warm when they reach 

 the surfaces to be disinfected. A copious quantity should be 

 used. The solution may cost but a fraction of a cent, or at 

 most a few cents a gallon, and it is a poor policy to econo- 

 mize by using an insufficient amount. Every part of the 

 surface of the interior of the building should be thoroughly 

 wet and completely covered with solution when disinfection 

 is completed; great care must be observed that no part is 

 skipped. 



Mercuric chlorid is one of the most powerful disinfectants, 

 but it is intensely poisonous and must be used Avith caution. 

 No puddles of the solution should be left from which the 

 birds may drink when they come into the building, and tab- 

 lets of this disinfectant must on no account be left where 

 children can get them or where their elders may mistake 

 them for something else, e. g., a headache remedy. 



For disinfecting buildings the mercuric chlorid should be 

 applied in a solution of one to five hundred (one ounce to 

 four gallons of water) and four times as much common salt 

 (one ounce to the gallon) should be used with it. The solu- 

 tion should be applied as hot as can be handled with a spray 

 pump. After the surface is dry it is a good precautionary 

 measure to apply the disinfectant a second time. 



There are a great number of disinfectants that may be 

 used in solution for disinfecting poultry houses, l)ut cer- 

 tainly none are superior to the coal tar disinfectants. For- 

 malin, for example, is exceedingly irritating to the eyes and 

 respiratory passages of the one doing the s])raying. Po- 

 tassium permanganate needs to be applied in almost saturated 

 solution to be effective, and thus l)ecomes expensive. A solu- 

 tion of copper sulphate is not fatal to all parasites. Crude 

 petroleum leaves the building unsightly and the odor per- 

 sists unduly long, and so it is with many others. 



Of the coal tar disinfectants, crude carbolic acid perhaps 

 stands at the head on account of its low cost; however, it is 



